The Chronicles of Rapina, Chapters 27-31: The Chronicles of Rapina, Chapters 47 and 48 Jooldig Back to contents page Back to the, The Best Laid Plans, page. [Rapina]047 Jooldig [Rapina]048 Evil Spirits [Rapina]047 Jooldig The tribe packed for travel at a rate Rapina would not have thought possible. Every orc seemed to be in a hurry to get to Jooldig, as if some great reward were waiting. It was another half day twisting and winding through dark caverns before the tribe came to a stop before a large tunnel flanked by high ledges where archers were stationed. Rapina's mage light had faithfully lit the way with a bright yet eerie red glow. She turned it off now as the tribe stopped. The cavern ahead glowed with a subtle yet intricate array of purple, yellow, red and orange light produced by several varieties of phosphorescent lichen or mold that clung to the cavern walls. A small delegation of warriors was sent ahead with a bit of loot from the fort of the Avengenes. A few minutes later, the tribe was again on the move. Rapina stared up at the archers, many of whom were leering down at her. Some of the archers were orcs, but many of them seemed to be only part orc. She saw short wide part-orcs with slate gray skins, and petite willowy part orcs with jet-black skins who looked to be part elf. There were also tiny part orcs with prominent noses, and others with large, wide mouths. No two looked the same, and some exhibited the features of more than two races. The orc tribe was escorted through a large cavern. The windows and doors of shops were carved into the stone on the perimeter of the cavern, and they even passed a few freestanding buildings within the cavern. The river that snaked through the caverns flowed under a bridge at the center of the underground town. The orcs set up camp in a large cavern on the far side of town. Before the camp was even fully set up, traders the tribe had sent out began returning with food and barrels of drink. Hluck took Rapina aside, "Melina, you have been the greatest luck in Hluck's life. You saved my life, you helped me become the chief and you saved my arm. I needed your power on my side so I ignored these things to keep your power in my camp. I will ignore you no longer. Now I have given you status in the tribe, but that will not be my only gift. You must have armor too. Oagmak told me this, 'Melina's armor is not right for her. Thuck chont makes her breasts swell with power and then her breastplate does not fit. Warriors of the tribe beset her with requests for thuck-thuck- thuck and she must remove her armor to grant them. This is not practical for a tribe that must be constantly on the move, and not right for Chontral Melina.' Your armor must be the armor of chontral thuck. Jooldig has two armorers, and both work the deep metals. Oagmak will take you to them." Oagmak loaded up both himself and Rapina with loot, and then escorted Rapina across town. Once through town they entered the tunnel that ran alongside the river. It was emblazoned with a metal sign in the shape of an anvil. After walking for some time, Rapina began to smell smoke. They entered a large otherwise empty cavern with a high ceiling and made their way to a stone building that stood at the center of the cavern. The building surrounded a courtyard. Oagmak rang a gong at the gate. A stout, sooty smith let them in. Once inside Rapina could see two smiths; the one that let them in was quite short and stout for an orc. His face was wide like the rest of him, his skin was steel gray and his nose was small and almost silver in color. His hair was a wild flame red. The other smith was taller and much leaner. He had jet-black skin except for the tip of his nose that was chocolate brown. His hair was beige and his ears were nearly pointed. Because he was muscular and somewhat elvish, he reminded Rapina a little bit of Doanthalas. "Kahl Hluk of Rageblood sends his greetings. I bring to you Chontral Melina, a young human chontral who has been extremely useful to my tribe. She is a thuck chantral and healer. She was a prisoner of the Avengenes. Our new chief won her from their leader in culach. She has since repaid the debt of freedom many times over. Her power is great, but her armor does not fit her power. Chief Hluk bid me to bring her to you and explain why her armor falls short," Chontral Oagmak said. Rapina rolled her eyes. It was almost as if neither of the smiths was listening to Oagmak at all. Both smiths were feeling the leather of her armor, examining the fastenings and generally inspecting the craftsmanship, not to mention what was under it. The half elf drew her rapier part way. "Greetings Chontral Melina. I am Tzingzar master smith of Jooldig. You have blackened blades. The steel is unusual." Rapina nodded, "They are from the human city of Montfort. There is a new forge there called the Montfort Forge. The blackening was added for night work." Tzingzar nodded, "For surface metal, it is very good, wouldn't you say, Daing?" "Greetings, Chontral Melina, I would be the robust master smith of Jooldig. Her sword metal may be good, Tzningzar, but surface metal is trash. The leather fits good. How they do this?" Daing asked. "They boiled it in wax, then stuck a thin backing of cloth to it and laid it on me while it was still quite hot," Rapina said. "I thought so. It is good work," the smith said as he and his partner removed Rapina's breastplate. "It fits well, er usually anyway," Rapina said. "It is good work but it does not work for Chontral Melina. When the kahlorcs fill her with their lust, her breasts expand with their power. Then she cannot get her breastplate on," Chontral Oagmak said. "A breastplate that cannot be worn is worthless," Daing said. Tzingar cupped Rapina's left breast, "It shows off your shape, but it cannot when your shape changes. Such matchless charms deserve constant protection. The craftsmanship lacks cunning." Daing cupped her right breast and nodded at his fellow smith. Rapina smiled and nearly sneezed there was so much lust tingling through her breasts and tickling her nose. "The buckles and buttons are well-stitched," Tzingzar said. "But the armor must be unbuckled for a kahlorc to give Melina his lust," Chantral Oagmak said. "Leaving her undone should an enemy suddenly appear," Tzingzar observed. "The armor is not serviceable, or practical for a chantral thuck of your shapeliness, Melina." Daing hefted the generosity of her breasts. Tzingzar caressed Rapina's inner thigh, "The armor must be flexible to allow your chont freedom. Daing roughly patted her abdomen, "The armor must be stout or you will be impaled trying to thuck a kahlorc in spiked plate armor." "The armor must be expandable and accessible," Tzingzar said. "Yet stout," Daing said. "And flexible," Tzingzar countered. "Too many contradictions. This armor requires a practical plan. We must sit down and draw its form," Daing said. "Her armor must be very cunning. We must test and experiment," Tzingzar said. "Bah, we must plan practically and commence forging," Daing said. Tzingzar held a swatch of chain mail to Rapina's abdomen and thrust his hips forward and backward. "The armor must be most cunning, new concepts must be developed. Testing and research is essential." Daing saw what his partner was doing and suddenly nodded, "Mmmhmm, to develop a practical plan will require much measurement and trial. We cannot forge without a cunning design." Both smiths nodded at each other. Daing addressed Chontral Oagmak, "If you wish cunning armor, you must leave Chontral Melina with us so that we can do the required testing and sizing." "If you will help us research, Chontral Melina, I am sure we can come up with a cunning design at a reasonable price. Yet, we must work with you intensively if we are to finish truly cunning armor before Kahl Rageblood leaves Jooldig," the thin willowy half-orc asserted. "Intensively," The short stout half-orc agreed. "Intensively?" Rapina asked, not quite able to stifle the smirk that was tugging at her lips. "Intensively," Tzangzar repeated. "Most cunningly." Daing said. "If you will work hard. I will work with you," Rapina grinned impishly. "Good, now how much armor can this Chief Hluk afford?" Tzangzar asked. Chontral Oagmak took several items out of his sack. "Kahl Hluk offers, three pounds of chocolate, a great sack of Avengene bread and cheese, the noses of nineteen Avengene soldiers, a stout sack of gold, staples of buckwheat and rye, a small sack of gemstones not found near Jooldig, six bottles of good brandy, and a hefty sack of Avengene blades and armor to be sold or melted as you see fit. A like amount will await you upon completion." "It is a payment of some goodly substance," Daing said. "But only our research can determine the final value of our wares," Tzangzar said. "Cunning is of utmost importance," Daing agreed. Tzangzar nodded, "Cunning." "Will the kahlorcs miss me?" Rapina asked. "Yes, you must return with me until they begin to get drunk. By then, the smiths might have gathered items for testing. Give me your tokens, for the payment, and I will bring Melina back in two or three hours." Chontral Oagmak said. Daing nodded and gave Oagmak a small metal token. "We must have measures from before the celebration," Tzangzar left to get parchment. Daing rubbed his hands on a rag and got the worst of the soot off them, "We must measure your breasts to see if they change, Chontral Melina." Rapina slowly took her top off, and then turned. "Please help me with the laces of my bustier, master smith Daing." Daing grinned like a split gourd, "Of course." Tzangzar produced a cloth tape from his pocket and carefully measured Rapina's chest at several locations under, on and above her breasts, and then he measured their circumference at several intervals and wrote the measurements down. He clucked at Melina as her nipples rose and made additional measurements. He carefully checked his parchment, and then handed a token to Oagmak, "We need to keep the old armor for fitting purposes. In a few hours we shall be ready to start our research." "I will make sure that the kahlorcs allow Melina to return to you then," Chontral Oagmak said. "You must not be too drunk, Melina, we will be working with fierce heat, Tzangzar smiled." "You must not be too slippery, for we may need to draw measurement lines on your body." "I will stay away from too much strong drink and clean up before I come back," Rapina said. The orcs nodded at each other and Rapina and then Rapina followed Oagmak back to the Rageblood camp. No sooner had she arrived than a mug of orc swill was slapped into her hand, and the eyes and lusts of many orcs chose her as a focus. "A toast to the new Kahl Rageblood!" J'mal hollered. "To powerful chont," Thallis blurted "And to the powerful lust behind it," Allok bellowed. Rapina had hardly brought her cup down from her lips when Allok growled and pushed her roughly to the ground. Her clothes came off at the behest of a dozen pairs of fingers and before she knew it, Allok's orcscrew was plunging between her nether lips. She growled and tugged his energy savagely, but it only seemed to make him howl and thrust harder. She had really had it with Allok. He was far too rough, and far too stupid to leave her alone even though she made him pay dearly in the currency of his life force every time he raped her. He was far too callous for his attentions to be called anything less. She had enjoyed the more subtle attention of the smiths, but Allock gouged her with his nails, pulled her hair, kicked her, bit her and bucked like a mule. She pulled on his life force with more power and skill than she had ever used on reverend Evangeline. The battle of buck and grunt was over in about five minutes because that was all the longer Allock lasted. Rapina massaged him with her inner muscles and squeezed the life out of him like a winepress draining a bushel of red grapes. His grunting bellows nearly ruptured Rapina's eardrums, and for a moment, she thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. She rolled on top of him in the midst of his orgasm and rode him like a bull rider, regenerating the violence he had done to her person directly from the flood of his life. She pulled the violence out of him with the suction of a tornado until his bellows were winded and he passed out beneath her like a rotted tree falling in the forest. A single tear ran from her eye. She hated him for turning her, however briefly, into the monster the Avengenes thought her to be and she feared the savage hunger that was the legacy of anger-tainted lust. Nearly three hours later, Rapina was feeling much better. Alcohol had softened the edge of her fury and self-recrimination. She had controlled her hunger and yet indulged it gently, treating three-dozen or so orcs to her favors rather than savaging a few out of anger. She used her charm power to help make allies of a growing percentage of the tribe for safety's sake, but she refused to become a mindless vessel of the lust spirit's power. To do so would be no better than having allowed the creature to possess her when she was a young girl. She was not a possessed waif, but a strong woman and she would always wield her power with her own unique code of honor. Rapina smiled to herself as she washed her lithe body with water from the river. Her hands lingered on her tingling breasts. They felt so good when fortified with lust; she wished she could keep them forever perked with power. ------ The walk to the smithy passed without event and her small escort of half-drunk orcs staggered back in the direction of the party once they had delivered her. Rapina rang the gong and waited for one of the smiths to arrive. Both arrived at the same time arguing loudly with one another as they approached. "No, no, that lacks subtlety, you will weigh her down overmuch; she is not some lummox warrior. Too much plate will turn her into a turtle," Tzangzar said. "Your chain is not strong enough, when she lifts her skirts, the spikes of her -grunting thucking tribesmen will skewer her belly, not to mention they will get stuck in the chain, unable to complete!" Daing said. "We must test this theory; my chain is strong!" Tzangzar maintained. "Stonger than tissue paper, but not as strong as fine quality plate. The spikes would slide on fine quality plate. With a dot of grease she could thuck an army without marring her armor with a single appreciable scratch," Daing said. "An army would have no interest in thucking a turtle. She will be unable to bend, unable to kiss and caress," Tzangzar said. The armorers reached the gate. The half-elf steadied it while the half-dwarf drew back the huge bolt. "Good day Chontral Melina," the two said as one. "Good day master smiths Daing and Tzangzar," Rapina said. "We have been discussing your armor," Daing said. "We have come to no agreement," Tzangzar said. "Much testing will be necessary to produce a design," Daing said. "We must know your chont in order to produce armor to match," Tzangzar reasoned. "First we must take precise measurements," Daing said. "At last we agree on something master smith Daing. Measurements will be important," Tzangzar agreed. The smiths both nodded at one another. "This way please, Daing opened a door facing the courtyard. It is warm in this room, for we do our smelting in those furnaces, and when one of us is feeling ill or too drunk to do our work, we sleep there on the cot and sweat away our troubles." "Have no fear I changed the bedding. It is not a chore I am willing to do when not feeling well, so it is best done far in advance," Tzangzar said. Rapina looked around the room. There were furnaces on one side and innumerable stacks of various armors along the walls. By the holes in some of the pieces of armor, it was obvious that the armorers did quite a business in armor looted from various opponents of the orcs. The smithy appeared to be more of a chop shop than a place where entirely new armor was created. "We have parchment and quills, we will measure you, and compare our measurements with one another for accuracy," Daing said. The smiths nodded at one another. "Your garb is silk, is it not?" Tzangzar asked. "Yes," Rapina said. "It is surface silk," Daing scoffed. "Surface silk is worm-bitten. Below we use the silk of magnificent spiders. It is much stronger. It will catch an arrow that pierces your armor. The arrow will not pierce the silk, but it will be driven into the wound. The silk surrounds the barbs of the arrow, and allows you to withdraw the wickedest tips even when the arrow has wounded you deeply," Tzangzar said. Each of the smiths took one of Rapina's arms and measured several places, then Tzangzar started at her feet while Daing started at her head. "These measurements will serve for clothed measurements but we must also know your skin measurements," Daing said. "Skin measurements can be of utmost importance when minute tolerances must be calculated," Tzangzar maintained. The smiths nodded at one another. Daing measured Rapina's chest, mumbled something and then measured both above and below her breasts again. He stomped over to his colleague's papers and shuffled through them. "You were not putting us on, Chontral Melina. Your udds are more robust than before!' Rapina blushed, "Yes, from the party." Tzangzar briefly rechecked some of Daing's measurements. "It is true, the compass of your breasts has changed! We must investigate further, but first your measure must be complete." The two smiths met at Rapina's rump. "A flat plate will not due for her Daing." "I am a master smith. I can form plate even to this most robust contour." After a few minutes Daing reached Rapina's feet and Tzangzar finished her head. "Now for the skin measurements," Both smiths said, grinning in unison. Rapina stifled a grin. The smiths were obviously up to no good. Daing unbuttoned her leggings while Tzangzar removed her tunic and unlaced her bustier. By the time Daing had peeled her panties from her hips and chased them over her ankles, Tzangzar was setting her bustier aside and she was entirely naked. The half-Elvin smith circled her, looking her up and down; He sighed, "Your form has great subtlety," Tzangzar said. "Bah, subtlety shmubtlety, Chantral Melina has plenty o' what a woman needs plenty of, a pair o' robust lust- swollen udds, and a high, round ass. Daing slapped Rapina's butt for emphasis and grinned like a pirate." "Aaaiii!" Rapina squealed in protest, but she could already feel the spellbinding tingle of the smiths combined lusts creeping up her spine. "Heh heh heh, sensitive too, now where were we, Tzangzar?" Daing asked. "Skin measurements," the half-elf said licking his lips. Rapina's nipples stood as the smiths tickled her up and down with their measuring tapes. Daing seemed to think it necessary to pat her rump and squeeze each of her cheeks before getting a proper measurement. Tzangzar was convinced that knowing the way each of her breasts would react to a pat from any direction or a snap to the nipple would help him with the design of the armor. Tzangzar measured the distance from the front side of her neck to the back side of her neck by going between her breasts, down over her mound and up between the cheeks of her rump. He enlisted the aid of Daing to carry the end of the tape up from her rump to the base of her skull. "Ah, my finger has slipped. Please let the tape slide, I need to pull it up." Tzanzar pulled on the tape. Rapina's mouth opened involuntarily as the tape slid over her nub. "That's a bit too much, take a little back," Tzangzar said. Daing pulled the tape back up her spine. "Your tug was too robust, brother smith. Let me pull some back. No I have overshot again. Just keep a steady but weak pull and I will pull and release until I have the right spot," Tzanzar said. Daing Pulled the tape back and then released as Tzangzar pulled. The two of them repeated the process several times. Rapina let out a little moan as the tape was dragged up and down over her sensitive nub. The two smiths nodded at one another, "Perfect," Tzangzar said writing down the measurement as he gauged the wet spot on the tape where it had nestled against Rapina's nether lips. I am ready to start our testing. "The way I see it, the crux is in the skirts," Daing said. "Chontral Melina must have armor robust enough to deal with the spikes of half armored thucking kahlorcs. I will don my plate, Tzangzar. I doubt the strength of your chainmail. You try whatever chain you like and we will see if Chontral Melina thinks it comfortable. Daing disappeared and returned with a suit of plate armor. While Dang was gone, Tzangzar rummaged about the room getting various pieces of chainmail. By the time his colleague had returned, he had quite a stack. Daing put on his entire suit of armor, including the boots, legs, skirts, the breastplate, the arms and gauntlets and even the helmet. There were spikes all over the armor, including a triad of them on the plate that covered his round half-dwarven ale-belly. "Now, let us pretend I am a kahlorc. I see you Chontral Melina and I wish to thuckthuckthuck, but there is little time, we are on dangerous turf and I mustn't take many, if any parts of my armor off. Let us do the first test with you lying down on the cot. It will serve instead of a log or a boulder. Now Tzangzar we must put your chain to the test. Lay some silk padding and some of your chain over her belly. Tzangzar did as he was bidden and Daing knelt down at the end of the cot and raised his armored skirts. He leaned forward and pumped his body against Melinas then stopped. Rapina was more than a little nervous looking at all of the spikes moving just above her and held away from her only by the strength of the half-darven smith's arms. The canvas breeches he wore rubbed against her mound. She wriggled abit and undid the buttons of his breeches, reached in and pulled Daing's stout sheath. His broad pink spiral glistened with moisture. "There is only one way to insure the angles are right," Melina said, matter-of-factly. "Chontral Melina has a point, but look, I wish to thuck her so badly now, Tzangzar, but the tip of my spike is stuck in her chainmail. I cannot pump her, I cannot thuckthuckthuck, and what of the comfort? "I worry about all the spikes above me, especially the ones above my breasts. If Daing were drunk and his arms weak, he might kill me by mistake, or at very least tear my breasts with his spikes. "We will consider the breast armor later, what about the spikes against your belly," Daing asked. "They don't hurt, but you can't move with them stuck in the chain links. We can't thuck like this," Rapina shook her head. Tzangzar scratched his head. "Perhaps a chain with smaller, tighter rings." Tzanzar tried several more types of chain. The spike hung up in all of them, and even with a little squirming on Rapina's part, the best she was able to do was kiss Daing's pink tip with her nether lips. "I have the smoothest, finest chain that I have been saving for a special occasion, one moment." Tzanzar ran off and returned with a suit of chain with several rents in it. "This chain came from a dark elf." Tzangzar proudly placed the chain on Melina's belly. Daing rocked his hips. The spikes slid over the dark- elven chain. Mmmm, Rapina moaned as the half dwarf's thick, ridged cock parted her and slid in a few inches. "This is much better." Daing thrust deeper and more forcefully. "Ow, the spike presses in quite a bit. I fear a drunken orc might bruise me even through the chain. There is no doubt that this is the best chain for spikes though." "You see, Tzangzar, the chain is not enough," Daing said. "I see, but this test is not fair. In order to thuck Melina, you would have to raise her armor skirts. With the skirts where would be two thicknesses of chain on her belly. Tzangzar put another thickness atop the first. "This is much better," Rapina panted as Daing pumped in and out of her, dragging the spikes over the double thickness of chainmail. "For a moment it would be, but look how the chain is bunching, the layer from the skirts would not properly stay put for long," Daing said. Tzangzar inspected the chain mail, "I concede. I will don armor and you can try your plate." Daing stood up and clapped his bracers together, "Sometimes being right is no fun." Daing left Rapina and rummaged around the room for some armor plates. He put one over Rapina's abdomen and another over her thighs. This is a skirt, and it would lift like so." Daing demonstrated. Tzangzar donned some spiked armor and came towards Rapina who smiled at him, lifted his plate skirt and undid his pants. Tzangzar grinned back at the Chontral as she pulled his sheath down and admired his long spiral erection. When she was back in position and Daing had put the plates on her, Tzangzar lifted his plate skirt and then the impromptu skirt of Melina. The problem was that the skirt of Melina curved around her body, but when lifted it curved away. Tzangzar's skirt did likewise. Tzangzar's lifted skirt would fit around Rapina's contour if she had had no lifted armor skirt as well, but as it was the edges of the two clashed. Clunk-clunk. "This skirt makes it impossible to get near Melina to thuck her, Daing. When lifted it no longer hugs her form. It keeps a warrior away from her. Tzangzar handed the plate skirt to the half-dwarf and tried again. Rapina thrust her hips upward just a bit and was rewarded by a length of Tzangzar's cock. Soon he began thrusting vigorously. "This plate is nice and slippery. The spike slides well but does it mar the surface?" Tzangzar asked. "This plate lacks quality," Daing said. "Stop, you are gouging lines into it. Even so, it is a better thuck than the chain, I think. "It is kind of heavy, but I can't feel the point of the spike at all," Rapina said. "I have some pieces of plate taken from enemy deep dwarves. The quality is without peer, and the weight is less than can be expected of ordinary plate. I will fetch it," Daing said. The half-elven smith thrust nearly his entire spiral ribbed length into Rapina once the deep dwarven abdominal plate was set on top of her. Rapina smiled warmly and thrust back against the armorer. Her hands held his breastplate so that if he were to slip, she could keep his spiked torso away from her breasts. "This plate slides much better." Tzangzar grinned. "And the spikes do not leave a single scratch on it, but without skirts Chontral Melina's thighs will be without protection. A wound to her thighs would be most dire. Yet, how can we protect them?" Daing asked. "We tried the chain but the spike makes it bunch up. However, too much plate will weigh her down. We need a plate skirt that will change contours when lifted. It needs to hug Melina's body up or down. Can you make such a thing?" "Daing snapped his fingers. We will use vertical bands of this fine plate. The banded skirt will flex and reverse its contour when lifted, yet it will allow the spikes to slide just a sheet of plate would." "Your idea has great subtlety, mastersmith Daing," Tzangzar panted as he thrust slowly and deeply into Rapina. "With such a cunning skirt, we will not need an abdominal plate, for the skirt when lifted up will cover her abdomen and protect her from the spikes of her thucking kahlorcs." The two smiths nodded at one another. "This idea of cunning bands might work well to protect Chontral Melina's udds too," Tzangzar said. "If each band were actually made of two interlocking bands that could slide to lengthen, Melina's udds could expand and her armor would become more robust as she did," Daing said. "A most cunning suggestion, mastersmith Daing. We could use the dark elf chain on the rest of Melina's body. The weight of a breastplate would turn Melina into a turtle, yet I fear the banded cups covering her breasts would not be held up by chainmail that would shift. Meleina's udds would bear the weight of the banded cups," Tzangzar said. "Her robust figure would soon grow long and flat under such an arrangement. The armor must provide support, not ruin what it protects. She must have a breastplate that keeps her up," Daing cupped Rapina's breasts and lifted them. Tzangzar shook his head, "Too much weight, even if you use the deep dwarf metal." "I have seen partial breastplates that protect only the shoulders and the upper half of the chest. Such a breastplate is light and allows for bending and twisting at the waist, if chainmail were used there," Daing said. "A most cunning suggestion. Our research has been most profitable," Tzangzar stood, withdrawing his erection from Rapina. Rapina sat up and grasped Tzangzar's sheath pulling it up and down over his ribbed erection. "The design sounds very practical, yet cunning," Rapina added. Rapina let go of the half orc's sheath and settled back down on the cot, her long legs bent at the knee and parted slightly revealing her moist folds, "Now what do we do?" she asked. "We must commence forging," Tzangzar said. Mastersmith Daing doffed his armor. "You hammer what you like, Tzangzar. I'd rather take a break from pumping those bellows and pump Melina's robust figure instead, aye Chontral Melina?" The half dwarf grinned. Rapina nodded rapidly and let one knee fall to the cot, giving the half dwarf a better view of her. Daing was on her in an instant, pumping furiously. Rapina grinned blissfully and kept pace with the stout half-orc. Rapina squealed as Daing suddenly rolled so that she was on top. "My friend you look like a sword without a forge. There is plenty of heat here for two swords," Daing said. Rapina heard armor dropping and then she felt the half elf's hands on her butt. --- [Rapina]048 Evil Spirits Smoke and sulfurous steam choked the cavern chambers from their uneven floors to their low, convoluted ceilings. Steam billowed from several diminutive geysers and hot springs. Torrid waters flowed down channels from the bases of the geysers and into pools scattered throughout the area. The sculls and bones of wise friends, cunning enemies and fierce monsters hung from the walls and ceilings of the chambers strung together in strange constellations with beads and gut string. Some resembled macabre mobiles while others served as doors, tapestries, and partitions. Sculls with open jaws and hands and paws with fingers and claws seemed the most well represented parts. High shaman T'zar labored over several bubbling kettles. He checked the oven and removed a metal sheet. He donned a cloth mask soaked with water and began carefully scraping the ruddy powder that had congealed on the sheet into a vial. When he was finished, the high shaman approached a small steaming pool, sat on a pillow at its edge and tossed a bluish pebble into the waters at the center. The ripples parted the steam like a curtain, and an image formed in the waters. It was the translucent image of a woman, yet not quite a woman since her eyes and hair were flame red, her features were somewhat alien to the human race, and her fingers were clawed. A voice whispered from the pool. I am restless, and I fear he may notice that I have strayed far to the edge of the realm of the dead. Have you compounded the necessary ingredients, High Shaman T'zar? "I have been working, but the formula cannot be rushed, Vulvilea," T'zar said. "But what if she leaves?" Vulvilea's image in the pool asked. "Such an opportunity must not be wasted! A less compatible host will not hold for long if at all." "And this, this is exactly why the formula must not be rushed. There is only one chance, only one. If the formula is too potent, she will die, or if it is not potent enough her resistance will be too strong and you will fail to take her. Your chance will be lost, utterly lost," T'zar said. Vulvilea growled, "I fear the lord of this land, but you are right, a mistake there would be as catastrophic as discovery here. I will keep moving, further into the edge zone, out of sight and out of mind. How soon can you be ready?" "Four days, maybe five," T'zar answered. "Hurry without error and I will amply reward you," Vulvilea said. "I will apply extra effort, extra time, on your behalf, Vulvilea, but I must see her face the moment you arrive," Tzar said. "Get me out of here quickly and you shall have your wish and more," Vulvilea said. "Three days, maybe four then. I will be diligent, so diligent," T'zar said. "I am grateful, T'zar," Vulvilea said. "Good, now I must go, too long delving into his realm could draw his attention," T'zar said. "Yes, that wouldn't do. There is no need to contact me again unless there is a change of plans." The High Shaman nodded and waved his hand. The image faded. The story continues in [Rapina]049 Land of Desolation copyright 2001-2002 by Rapina